The Hardest, Easiest Question

By Dave Yewman, President, DASH Consulting, Inc.

"So what does your company do?" It's the question we all get asked in one form or another - during a cocktail party, at a trade show or in an elevator.

And it's at once the hardest and the easiest question to answer: because you can tell them everything but that takes too long. And if you can't tell them everything then how do you know where to start?

That's why developing a clear, concise "elevator speech" is so important. You may have heard the term. The basic theory is this: you're standing in an elevator and on steps a captain of your particular industry. It's just you and him. As the doors close you have 30-40 seconds to tell an influential, captive audience just what your company does and, more importantly, why anyone would care.

A good friend of mine calls it the "So what? Who cares?" test. And that's apt, because when we ask someone "What do you do?" we're not really asking that question. We're asking a far more brutal question: "Why should I care about what you say and why should I listen to you?"

It happened just a few weeks back. In a media training session, with cameras rolling, a CEO was asked what his company did - and he fell for it. Off he went talking about the speeds and feeds of his software; how his was the best application bar none on the market; how he had no competition to speak of, and how his company would dominate its market in coming years.

But all of it was worthless. Because he lost his audience in the first 30-40 seconds. Why? Because his entire speech (it was actually a pretty long elevator ride by the time he got done) was about what's in it for him and his company. He never paused to think about what was in it for his audience.

And that's a key difference.

Whether you're talking to press, shareholders, employees, customers or investors - they all need to know WIIFM - "What's in it for me?" It's simple and it matters a great deal. The corporations of the world spend a huge amount of time and money developing strategic positioning statements and key messages to describe what they do. They sweat bullets building a brand. They strive for differentiation. And then they send an executive out in public who can't get those messages across; someone who blurs messaging and does mortal damage to the company's brand - because he or she forgets to apply the "so what?" test beforehand.

It's ironic that something so rudimentary is so widely ignored. But it is.

The marketing people know. They see the blank looks and vacant stares from press, shareholders, employees, customers and investors while the CEO ignores WIIFM and sputters mindless nonsense about software that's "integrated," "robust" and "scalable."

So how do you remedy this malady? In a word: videotape. Many executives would rather have a root canal without anesthetic than see themselves on videotape, but it's tremendously valuable. DASH Consulting videotapes media training sessions for two reasons:

1. So executives can see themselves as others see them. Studies show that up to 93 percent of communications is non verbal, so visual distractions can block even the most well thought out message. Video is ugly but it works and in a marketer's fantasy world it would be mandatory for every executive before every presentation.
   
2. So every word is captured. Invariably the executives have great examples and customer stories that help position a product or service in the minds of an audience - but those examples and stories are often buried too far down in the speech. We capture it all on tape, replay it and along with the marketing folks we greedily devour every anecdote because those help build stories and stories are how human beings communicate - stories build brands.

As media trainers we'd like to think there's some rocket science to this coaching process but there really isn't. The key is getting to the "so what" and telling stories. They key is thinking problem-solution-benefit. But so few companies do it because so few executives will acknowledge that they need help in this most vital of areas. It's no wonder audiences love speakers who can paint word pictures, use examples and tell stories to get a point across - whether that audience comprises employees, friends or just your mom. In fact, if mom gets what you're saying, you're probably saying it right.

So what's the elevator speech on elevator speeches? Follow a problem-solution-benefit structure. Tell stories, tell them early, tell them often; practice out loud, keep it short, keep it simple and talk in plain language. Now that's a journey most of us would gladly take, whether it's during a cocktail party, at a trade show or in an elevator.

Learn more about Dave Yewman in our Contributor's section.